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ITU partners with Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World to launch
‘Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE’ at WSIS Forum 2013
Geneva, 13 May 2013 — ITU, the
Kofi Annan Foundation
and One Young World
are working together on a new series of youth-oriented online discussions
designed to stimulate debate among young people around the world on challenges
central to their lives and prospects, such as unemployment and democratic
governance.
Former UN Secretary-General Annan will launch the Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE
series on Wednesday, 15 May, with the first online discussion to take place over
the Google Hangout platform from 11:00 - 12:30 CET.
With the topic of ‘Young People and Leadership’, this first session gives six
aspiring young leaders the opportunity to share their views with Mr Annan,
watched by a global audience who will be able join the conversation and pose
their questions via social media.
The outreach to young audiences will form a key element of a direct youth
engagement process building up to ITU’s
BEYOND 2015
Youth Summit in Costa Rica and the One Young World Summit in South
Africa, to be held in September and October respectively.
ITU will host the first Dialogue from its Geneva studios on the occasion of
the WSIS
Forum 13 event taking place this week (13-17 May) at the Geneva
International Conference Centre. The world’s largest annual gathering of the
‘ICT for development’ community, WSIS Forum is focused on defining strategies to
help countries and organizations more effectively harness the power of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) to accelerate progress towards
the Millennium Development Goals, now less than two years away.
“I congratulate Kofi Annan on an excellent and much-needed initiative to
reach out to youth. These online Dialogues are an excellent example of using the
power of ICTs to connect people to influence change,” said ITU Secretary-General
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré. “Our young new generation of ‘digital natives’ feel
completely at home communicating online – and harnessing today’s social media
channels allows us to create a truly global platform that cuts across
geographical boundaries and brings in voices from right around the world.”
Participate in the first live Dialogue:
When: 15 May, 11h00 - 12h30 CET
Where:
http://dialogueslive.kofiannanfoundation.org/
How: Send your questions via Twitter
#kofiannanlive #BYND15 #OYW
#WSIS
Follow the Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE on Twitter and Facebook at:
https://twitter.com/KofiAnnan
#kofiannanlive
https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Kofi-Annan/228449696042
Learn more about ITU’s forthcoming BEYOND 2015 Youth Summit
here.
For more information, please contact:
At ITU:
Doug Court
Deputy Coordinator, BEYOND 2015 Youth Summit
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Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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At Kofi Annan Foundation:
Declan O'Brien
Kofi Annan Foundation
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About ITU...
About the Kofi Annan Foundation
The Kofi Annan
Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization founded in 2007 by Kofi
Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate. The Kofi Annan Foundation aims
to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and
countries to achieve a fairer, more secure world.
http://kofiannanfoundation.org